Tag Archives: Wildlife

These stealthy cats avoid humans and hunt at night, so they are rarely seen. So if you’ve had the opportunity to see one of these animals while in Canada then consider yourself very fortunate. The lynx is a solitary cat that haunts, stalks and hunts in our remote northern Ontario forests in and around Wawang Lake Resort. Although we’ve been at Wawang Lake for over 40 years now we have actually only seen these animals a few times.

Lynx are covered with beautiful thick fur that keeps them warm during long, frigid Canadian winters. Their large paws are also furry and hit the ground with a spreading toe motion that makes them function as natural snowshoes.

The Canada lynx is a good climber and swimmer; it constructs rough shelters under fallen trees or rock ledges. It has a thick coat and broad paws, and is twice as effective as bobcats at supporting its weight on the snow.

Lynx eat mice, squirrels, and birds, but prefer the snowshoe hare. The lynx are so dependent on this prey that their populations fluctuate with a periodic plunge in snowshoe hare numbers that occurs about every ten years.

If you’ve ever driven any distance through the Canadian bush – especially endless miles of tree-lined, two-lane highways, then you will know about the moose as they often move about our Canadian highways freely.

There are foreboding signs along the way featuring outlines of these hulking creatures nonchalantly strolling across your path. The message is not one of protecting the environment, it is one of avoiding mortal danger and a warning to YOU.

An uneasy feeling starts to set in right about dusk, when the light of the sky darkens enough to match the light thrown by your high-beams.

If you know about the threat of the moose you will tend to slow down just a little, and your eyes will skirt furtively for motion and shadows along the treeline. Because you do not want to hit a moose. If you do, it will almost certainly be THE event of your day. Although generally timid, the males become very bold during the breeding season, when the female sutter a loud call, which can be heard from up to 2 miles away, and are often mistaken for lowing cattle; at such times they fight both with their antlers and their hoofs. Fierce clashing of antlers between males is also not uncommon during the rutting season. The female gives birth to one or two young at a time, which are not spotted. The gestation period for a moose is about 216-240 days. After the young are born, they drink the mother’s milk, which is very high in fat and other nutrients. Because of the milk, the calf grows very fast.

The cow moose is reported to kill more people in Canada than any other animal (far exceeding the toll of the grizzly bear). These large animals can be extremely protective of their young, and caution should be exercised when approaching a cow moose.

In the spring, moose can often been seen in drainage ditches at the side of roads, taking advantage of road salt which has run off the road. These minerals replace electrolytes missing from their winter diet. However, this is where the most potential danger lies in these locations as the moose will come out to the open for various reasons one especially to get away from the flies. So on your journey up to Wawang Lake be sure to heed the warning signs – keep your eyes peeled and scan the timberline on each side of the road for these majestic animals.

These stealthy cats avoid humans and hunt at night, so they are rarely seen. So if you’ve had the opportunity to see one of these animals while in Canada then consider yourself very fortunate. The lynx is a solitary cat that haunts, stalks and hunts in our remote northern Ontario forests in and around Wawang Lake Resort. Although we’ve been at Wawang Lake for over 40 years now we have actually only seen these animals a few times.

Lynx are covered with beautiful thick fur that keeps them warm during long, frigid Canadian winters. Their large paws are also furry and hit the ground with a spreading toe motion that makes them function as natural snowshoes.

The Canada lynx is a good climber and swimmer; it constructs rough shelters under fallen trees or rock ledges. It has a thick coat and broad paws, and is twice as effective as bobcats at supporting its weight on the snow.

Lynx eat mice, squirrels, and birds, but prefer the snowshoe hare. The lynx are so dependent on this prey that their populations fluctuate with a periodic plunge in snowshoe hare numbers that occurs about every ten years.

These stealthy cats avoid humans and hunt at night, so they are rarely seen. So if you’ve had the opportunity to see one of these animals while in Canada then consider yourself very fortunate. The lynx is a solitary cat that haunts, stalks and hunts in our remote northern Ontario forests in and around Wawang Lake Resort. Although we’ve been at Wawang Lake for over 40 years now we have actually only seen these animals a few times.

Lynx are covered with beautiful thick fur that keeps them warm during long, frigid Canadian winters. Their large paws are also furry and hit the ground with a spreading toe motion that makes them function as natural snowshoes.

The Canada lynx is a good climber and swimmer; it constructs rough shelters under fallen trees or rock ledges. It has a thick coat and broad paws, and is twice as effective as bobcats at supporting its weight on the snow.

At Wawang Lake we’ve had the pleasure to see these cats during winter and summer. They are stealthy and beautiful to look at.

Lynx eat mice, squirrels, and birds, but prefer the snowshoe hare. The lynx are so dependent on this prey that their populations fluctuate with a periodic plunge in snowshoe hare numbers that occurs about every ten years.

Moose feed on a large variety of foods. They browse on the twigs and leaves of many kinds of plants.. Grasses and marsh plants are also sought.

Aquatic vegetation growing in lakes and streams is particularly relished in summer. During this season of the year, animals are seen at the edges of water or feeding in it. Adult moose will stand virtually submerged in deep water, lowering their heads underwater, grazing for long periods of time on underwater growth. Where a moose cannot reach these succulent plants, it can actually dive in deep water (up to 20 feet), remaining below for up to one minute.

Several years ago when Terry and I (Tami), owners of Wawang Lake Resort, were out fishing we trolled our boat into one of the lakes’ many bays, a splash resounded in the bay that caught our attention. Curious Terry headed over towards the ripples left from the splash to have a look.

Soon a head popped up out of the water between the boat and shoreline – it was an adult mink and suddenly a couple more smaller heads bobbed up right after – her babies. We soon realized mom was teaching her young to swim and forage for food. So cute!

Looking over towards the shore we noticed a couple more drenched baby mink patiently waiting for mom to return. That was four kits in all. Meanwhile, one of the kits had drifted away from mom coming closer to our boat and now struggled to crawl up the shaft. of the motor. Terry reached over and grabbed the little mink by the scruff of the neck and pulled it into the boat. Now sitting on the boat seat the little one, looking like a drowned rat, sneezed, coughed and hiccuped and looked very dazed.

Suddenly mom was alarmed when she noticed one of her young was missing. Sensing danger she swiftly grabbed the one near her by the neck, dove under the water and soon came up at the shoreline 20′ away where her other babies were obediently waiting. Quickly, she turned and stood on her haunches as she scanned the waters surface for the lost kit – but he was nowhere to be seen

She dove back into the water and swam back to the training area. She swam in panic, swam in circles, dove under anxiously looking for the kit. Her head bobbed out of the water over and over, several times. Seeing that she had become quite concerned for her missing baby Terry picked up the nervous kit sitting with us and put him back in the water, and shoved him off towards his mom. Mom now seeing her baby swam over, grabbed him by the neck angrily and gave him a few good shakes in reprimand before driving under the water with him away from danger and back to the rest of her family and safety. With one last head count she then leaped into the dense woods, her babies following close behind and not one of them looked back even once.

Once we were done fishing Terry threw the remaining minnows onto shore where the mink family had been. I knew he was thinking that they might come back.

As it turned out it was a wonderful day. The weather was great, the fishing even better and we now looked forward to a freshly caught fish supper. Best yet though was our wildlife encounter and a glimpse into the lives of one of our neighbors – the mink family. As I put my jacket on and got myself comfortable in the seat for the ride back to the lodge I wondered if the mink family would come back to that spot and be eating as good as we would that night. At least I hoped so.

A majestic bald eagle is captured on video as it swoops down to pluck a fish out of the water. What happens next is totally unexpected.

Fish are a common meal for the eagle. Yet this old bird seemingly bit off more than he could chew when he chose the wrong fish for dinner. But the clever bird has a wonderful trick up his sleeve. Watch the video and prepare to be impressed.

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Two young kids moved into the remote region of NW Ontario and took with them a dream........ 'It became Wawang Lake Resort'
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